Why don't people speak to eachother?

I see it everyday. I have noticed it in a way that few have from childhood. People pass by eachotehr in the grocery stores, the malls, traffic lights, corner stores, courts, hospitials, and so on. They see a face. They see apparel. They make a judgment and they walk away. Why?
We have grown to be dumbed down to level ants, bumping in to eachother on lifes path and ignoring the "who" only acknowledging that there is a mass, a dense obstacle blocking our paths that some refer to as a fellow human being. What the hell? Have you ever looked into the eyes a random person and thought, " My God, I bet they have some stories to tell!" I do everyday, all day. I am eventually planning to get my camcorder and walk up to an assortment of people and ask them to tell me a story about their lives. Think about how your life has been. Successful? Traumatizing? No Matter. I am the type of woman who wants to know.
There has always been this gut-level notion within me, that is if everyone, old and young, would choose to conversate in respect for one anothers experiences, just for one day so many barriers in society would be absolutely shattered with no hope of reconstruction. Your preferences do not set you apart from another person. Your geographical location does not cause your distance. Your generational gaps are not the formation of years. It's your inability to esteem anothers wisdom and knowledge above your own. Some of the most profound statements come out of the mouths of babes. The most unexpected quips come from the lips of elders. Why will you not open your eyes to the glory in the lives of the people around you day to day? Why do you see that elderly woman at the checkout and decide she has nothing of value to offer you? I have met a holocaust survivor standing in line at the pharmacy. I have met grandfathers that want nothing more than to speak to young women, not because they are perverts, but becuase they remind them of their own daughters who disowned them on account of alcohol abuse a decade and a half ago after thier rehabilitation. Some people want nothing more than to sit infront of your child as the giggle in the stroller and ponder the child they have lost in a miscarriage. And you watch the news that paints everyone as evil and think, " They may try to steal my kid". So you give a plastic grin, repeat how old the child is, and slowly retract the stroller from the face of the admiring person.
I have posted in my profile that I love to make lifelong friendships with the homelss. I met someone who stood on the same intersection for 6 years. Why? His wife and child were killed there in a head on collision. And you see his crack pipe, his bottle of Jack and spit on him. I met someone who was in a wheelchair, a vet with dreadlocks like broom straws, a heavy Jamacian
accent who lived under an oning outside and abandonm cafe. I was waiting for my Father to come from 50 miles to pick me up at the bus station. I had not had anything to eat in hours. He bought me a couple of Tacos and a large Pepsi and proceeded to have one of the most intellectually stimulating conversations I have ever had. But many of you would see him and think he might grab hold of your arm as you walk by and speak of voodoo mysteries and pentacles of doom drawn on the floor under your beds. Stop watching TV!!!!

Oscar the grouch of Sesame Street lived in a garbage can, had a pet worm, was anorexic with huge bulgijng eyes and an obvious crack fiend! You did not seem to have a problem with letting your kids shake his hand and talk about the letter " G" at Sesame Street on Ice, did you? You oaf!

If the fu shits...

Look at your mindsets...

Look at what you are ALL missing out on! Why does the lady that you detest down the street have so many friggin cats? Oh she's just creepy like that....

She more than likely has had too many marriages to count and decided that cats are cheaper, they just want to cuddle and she would rather have something shitting on her kitchen floor than on her friggin heart! Analyze it, people!

Just becuase some people are too weak to respond to tragedy in the same way that you might, does not mean that they she be left without a way to cope for the sake of societies approval rating until they can find the truth.

The truth is outside forces do not birth fear. The people you automatically avoid are struggling because they do not understand this truth. Fear is an easily tamed animal. Their fear of whats happened to them, your fear of what might happen to you becuase of whats happened to them. Its all controlable. You have to be the one to direct it in a purposeful, profitable fashion.

Everyone has had an experience. Regardless of what you may believe upn first glance, everyone has had an experience. And even if you do not take the same lessons and apply them to your life, the universe is not without balance. They can go on knowing that someone actually gave a damn to hear them out past " How ya doin'?".

Tyler Durden: " I don't know. It' s like people actually listen to you here instead of -
Marla Singer: " Instead of just waiting for their turn to speak.

Marla, a thieving, lying, pillpopping, whore.

What did she have to teach us?

Alabaster says: